Apocalypsis 02 - Warpaint

in low tones. The girl disappeared into the trees, heading off in the direction we had just come from. I hoped that meant Coli was following through on her promise to get Peter and bring him over.
    Bodo and I wandered over to the food to fill our plates. I eyed the meat suspiciously, but it didn’t look like snake, so I took a piece. Once Bodo was finished filling his plate with about five pounds of food, we sat down next to each other over in a corner. Winky soon joined us, sitting on the other side of Bodo. He smiled and greeted her, making me feel instantly sick to my stomach.
    I looked down at my food and set it off to the side, my appetite instantly gone. I caught myself glaring at Winky and forced myself to stop before anyone saw me. This is totally stupid. Winky is not after Bodo. I looked up and saw Paci staring at me curiously. Crap. All I need to do is start drama with these people. That’d be the fastest way to get kicked out. Just relax, Bryn, relax. Bodo likes you. He’s said it a million times.
    I kept talking to myself for about five minutes, but as much as I tried to convince myself I had nothing to worry about, I couldn’t help but move away from Bodo the slightest bit. Maybe I should have moved closer, but I just kept thinking that if he preferred her over me, I wasn’t going to do anything but walk away. I couldn’t afford to get all girly emotional over the situation, not matter how much it would hurt.
    Bodo stopped talking to Winky, looking at me sideways and frowning. Then he reached behind me, put his arm around my hips, and pulled me back until I was nearly stuck to his side. “You stay by Bodo,” he said. “I don’t want dat Paci guy getting any ideas.” He looked up and glared in Paci’s general direction.
    Paci just raised an eyebrow and smirked.
    I looked at Bodo. “Ideas about what?”
    “About who’ss gonna be Mr. Bryn.”
    I couldn’t help but smile at his goofiness. I glanced over at Winky a second later to see her grinning too. I reached down and picked up my plate, my appetite fully restored.
    ***
    Peter came walking into the hut as Trip began his speech. He sat down next to me and picked at the food on my plate as we listened. I tried not to think about the snake while I chewed my mystery meat.
    “We’re all here to talk about our plans to go to find the animals who hurt Celia and who have some other people there being held as … prisoners.” He looked around at the group of us sitting in front of him, slowly, as if taking our measure. “This is going to be dangerous and could result in injuries or maybe worse. No one has to go if they don’t want to.” His voice went harsh. “So if you’re not interested, take your food and go.”
    Everyone there had to know from his tone that if they left, Trip was going to mark them forever as cowards in his mind. I was glad when Kowi walked over to stand next to him and add his two cents.
    “No one who backs out is going to be thought less of. You all have your own things going on, and we understand if you can’t take the risk.”
    Trip glared out at the group but said nothing.
    No one got up and left.
    I scanned the group, trying to read their body language and determine if anyone was having second thoughts. I didn’t want people who weren’t totally dedicated to go; they could turn tail and run, or freeze up at the worst possible time, jeopardizing us all. I saw only stoic faces and an occasional frown, but nothing that looked like fear. I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or worried about that. I made a split-second decision and stood, going over to join Trip and Coli.
    “Sorry guys, but I had a thought and wanted to just say it out loud.” I looked at the two chiefs for permission to speak and they both nodded.
    I turned to face the group in front of us. “I know you all love Celia and want to do the right thing by her … revenge and all. And I totally get that. But I just want to be sure you know exactly what we’re doing here before you agree to go.”
    “Are you trying to talk us out of it?” asked Fohi.
    “No. But I can’t afford - we can’t afford-to have someone watching our backs who takes off running or freezes up at a bad time. It could cause someone to get killed.”
    Fohi scoffed loudly at me. “Please. Like any of us would run.” He looked around at his friends nearby and they all nodded, puffing out their chests.
    I shook my head. “No, I’m not calling anyone here a coward. I’m just